Wizard for Hire

After being whisked from NYC to a secluded hilltop near the coast in Central Oregon, Ozzy's parents are kidnapped from their "Cloaked House" and Ozzy is left to fend for himself. For seven years! Ozzy miraculously manages to survive until he discovers a creation of his father - a sentient, metal raven "Clark". Together, Clark and Ozzy begin to explore Ozzy's past and end up hiring the town Wizard (yes, wizard), Rin, to help find them. With the kind guidance of a classmate, the team will indeed unravel the mystery of Ozzy's parents. Within the car chases, breakfasts, and bird humor there is the secondary mystery of Rin. Is, or isn't he, a "real" wizard? Even in the end, readers may not have an answer to this particular question. For a contemporary tale of magic, nonsense, and mystery "Wizard for Hire" is a wonderful choice. Skye even uses the tale as a platform for addressing diversity, but in a very gentle way which fits naturally into the story line. Recommended!

E ARC from Edelweiss Plus



Seven-year-old Ozzy remembers living in New York with his scientist parents Mia and Emmitt, but the family is now enjoying an idyllic life in the forests of Oregon. Sure, they are surrounded by unpacked boxes, but life is good until strange men come and kidnap his parents. Not knowing what else to do, Ozzy continues to live alone in the mountain cabin. When he discovers Clark, a mechanical talking crow, he is less lonely. He also finds tapes that his father left, detailing some of the psychological experiments that he and Ozzy's mother were doing in New York. When he turns 14, he decides to go to high school, and hops a bus. He just goes to classes, and the teachers accept him for a while. Eventually, he decides to find his parents, and calls the number he finds in the local paper under "Wizard for Hire". This puts him in contact with Labyrinth (Rin, nee Brian), who claims to have spent time in the wizarding realm of Quarfelt, and says he'll try to help. With the use of his ex-wife's car, Rin finds some details. Before long, Sigi, a girl Rin met at the beach and in the high school, shows up and offers to go track down a contact Ozzy's mother mentions on one of the tapes. Soon Sigi (who has some surprising parentage), Ozzy and Rin are on their way to track down Charles Plankford and figure out the mysteries of Ozzy's past.

Strengths: This is definitely my favorite of Skye's books. The story is far fetched but intriguing, Ozzy is an interesting character, and Rin's backstory is rather fascinating. Ozzy's entry into high school life is funny and endearing.
Weaknesses: This was the sort of book where I would happily read for 50 pages, then the story would bog down a bit and I'd put the book down to clean a bit. Read another 50 pages or so until the story slowed again. In order to make this a middle grade book, about 100 pages would need to be cut. This seems more like a Young Adult title, along the lines of Vizzini's The Other Normals or Pierson's Crap Kingdom.
What I really think: Since this actually isn't a fantasy book, aside from Clark, and I may not purchase it. It's a bit longer and slower than what my students usually like.

Shortly after starting this book I began to think of it as YA as opposed to middle-grade. I would almost have divided this into two books because I enjoyed the first part before he went to school so much that I wanted to hear more about that time. 

Ozzy lives alone in the Portland forest after his folks are kidnapped. It's been ten years, and he survived on his thanks to a stuffed library (Yay book hoarding!) and a solar-powered mechanical bird that his father built before he left. After Ozzy turns 14, he takes the bus to high school and signs himself up. Much like the homeschooler he is, Ozzy learns a bit about fashion and social skills right away and eventually contacts a wizard for help in finding his parents.

I'd recommend this to kids that are hot off their re-read of Harry Potter and LOTR. It's the theme of magic that will draw them into this crazy funny story.

Verdict- Borrow

Wizard for Hire is an exciting adventure. Ozzy is a resourceful and brave protagonist that tweens and teens will identify with. The element of magic is artfully woven into the story, with the reader never quite sure what is magic and what is reality. Humor is used with deftness and skill. This is a heart-felt, humorous adventure that will delight fantasy lovers of all ages.

Ozzy, a boy surviving on his own in rural Oregon, enlists the help of an eccentric man named Rin, who calls himself a wizard. Ozzy is trying to locate his parents, who were kidnapped years earlier, and piece together their involvement and discoveries in a mysterious experiment.

I found this book to be very entertaining, definitely a fun read.

At first, I was concerned that Ozzy didn't display much agency; several years went by before he tried to find his parents. It was explained by Ozzy thinking it was "normal" for children's parents to be taken away, and I did note that as Ozzy acquired more information and stimulus, he began to engage more with the outside world.

Two characters, especially, have a positive impact on Ozzy's development: Clark, a solar-powered, talking metal bird invented by Ozzy's father; and Sigi, a girl whom Ozzy meets at the beach when he goes exploring one day. Both of them contribute to Ozzy being more interested in the broader world.

Rin, of course, is a force of nature, entirely irrepressible. I enjoyed the way Rin's attributions of magic to seemingly mundane occurrences would butt up against Ozzy's skepticism. An underlying theme seems to run throughout the book: "Is Rin really a wizard, or isn't he?" I think that no matter which way readers decide, they will enjoy reading it.

I love the cover of this book. If you're looking for something out of the of the ordinary and a little eccentric than this book is for you. Ozzy and his bird, Clark are looking for answers, when Ozzy sees an ad listed for a wizard for hire, he decides to hire him. Ozzy isn't even sure that the wizard is real or if he is just a crazy man, what follows is an adventure that Ozzy wasn't planning on.

Wizard for Hire follows the far-fetched but entertaining adventures of Ozzy and his friend, a mechanical crow named Clark as they search for Ozzy's long-missing parents. With the help of Clark and Rin, an eccentric wizard, Ozzy learns a lot about the world he's been hidden from since he was seven.
I really liked both the section where Ozzy is living alone, away from the world, and the section where things really start being magical and amazing.
I rated this as middle through YA because, while it is about a teen, he is very naive and nothing terribly untoward happens.

For fans of the epic “Leven Thumps” series and “Pillage” trilogy, look no more!

When his parents are taken away from him at a young age, Ozzy Toffy learns to fend for himself in the forest with only the tape recordings of his parent’s voices for company. One day, Ozzy finds a secret key that unlocks a box holding one of his father’s greatest inventions: Clark a robotic, talking, and independently, thinking raven with an affinity for metallic objects.

With newfound company, Ozzy begins to explore the world around him, and as the years pass, he is determined to find out what happened to his parents. So Ozzy enrolls in school where he tries to research more about his parents, and even makes friends with a girl his own age, Sigi. Through a stroke of fate, Ozzy and Clark see an ad stating ‘Wizard for Hire.’ With high hopes, Ozzy finds an unexpected friend in Rin a wizard who has more powers than the eye can see and ally with Sigi.

So the team embarks on a quest of high speed chases, magical moments....and an unexpected revelation!

In this comedic, original work only Obert Skye could create, readers are taken along on a fantastic adventure where you go from the first to last page in a matter of moments (it’s magic really!). Overall, to use an analogy fellow fans of the “Leven Thumps” series can appreciate, this book is FOO-tastic!

I loved this book!

It’s a cross between Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events. There were lots of Harry Potter references in this book. Since Ozzy lives in a cabin in the forest, he hasn’t had much contact with the outside world. Most of the things he knows about school, he learned from Harry Potter, such as that schools are closed on weekends and holidays. The way that his parents disappeared under suspicious circumstances reminded me of the Beaudelaire children’s parents in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

The wizard, Rin, was a great character. His magical abilities are questionable, because he doesn’t do any spells and the information he finds for Ozzy can also be found on the Internet. Ozzy is suspicious of how much of a wizard Rin really is, but he’s the perfect adult companion for a child who has lived in a forest for most of his life. They are both clueless on many topics, so it made the story funny. For example, Rin gave Ozzy some verbal instructions on how to drive a car for the first time, which didn’t end well for the car.

I loved this story! It’s great for readers of all ages.

4.5 stars. Spectacularly bizarre! I don't know if I have ever read anything quite like this. It's smart, funny and quirky. The characters are awesome. I was hooked from page one. I think this works for upper elementary/middle school students, but I think it will also work for older teens who love unusual stories with terrific characters.

I love the cover so much I made it larger. I just felt like Rin was so Hagrid like :)
Ozzy's parents mysteriously move the family to a deserted area near Portland, OR when he was about 7. Shortly after they moved however they were taken by some men and Ozzy was left alone. Fortunately his parents had stockpiled canned foods, he knew how to read, and he was able to survive. Over the years he found tapes that his father had recorded and a mechanical bird his father had invented. But he became curious and started venturing out - to the surrounding area and eventually to school. Finally, he decided to really start looking for his parents, and after seeing an ad in the local flyer about a Wizard for Hire, he met Rin.
Just who is Rin? A real wizard or a delusion man? It didn't really matter because together they were able to track down what happened to Ozzy's parents and why. Along the way Ozzy also made friends with Rin's daughter and learned some important lessons.
This was a fun book. Rin was a hoot - again Hagrid like - and Ozzy's innocence and efforts were awesome. Clark the bird was also great. I really enjoyed this. A sequel is hinted at but not necessary.